Computing and communication networks typically include devices, such as routers, switches or gateways, which transfer or switch data, such as packets, from one or more sources to one or more destinations. A packet is a structure that encapsulates data for transmission through a network based on control information that is stored in a header portion of the packet.
A network switch, in particular, may include a networking device that connects network segments and computing devices. Network switches typically process and forward data at the data link (Layer 2) layer of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model.
In some network switch configurations, multiple access switches may each connect to a number of network devices. For example, a “server farm” may include hundreds or thousands of servers, where each of the servers may connect to a port of one of the access switches. Each of the access switches may in turn connect to one or more aggregation switches. The aggregation switches may be logically combined to appear as a single “virtual” aggregation switch. The virtual aggregation switch may allow network administrators to maintain a single operating system and configuration information for the virtual aggregation switch.
Individual aggregation switches in a virtual aggregation switch may be directly connected to one another. In order to maximize the overall bandwidth of the system, it is desirable that data traffic between the individual aggregation switches is minimized.